Presenter Profile

Michelle Nichols, CPST-I

Michelle Nichols, CPST-I

Injury Prevention Health Educator
Oregon Child Passenger Safety Coordinator
OHSU Doernbecher Childrens Hospital
nichmich@ohsu.edu

Michelle is the Oregon Child Passenger Safety Coordinator and a Health Educator with the Doernbecher Injury Prevention Program at OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland, Oregon. Michelle has dedicated her professional focus on pediatric injury prevention along with supporting the development of Child Passenger Safety technicians and instructors in Oregon. She has been a Child Passenger Safety Technician since 2012, and an Instructor since 2018. Michelle presents locally and nationally in areas of injury prevention, child passenger safety, and adaptive needs transportation.

Presentations

How to Transport a Superhero: Considerations for Safe Transportation of Children with Unique Medical Circumstances

Dex Tuttle, M.Ed., CPST-I
Michelle Nichols, CPST-I

Part of session:
Workshop Session 2C
Saturday, December 2, 2023, 2:50 PM to 4:05 PM
Description:

Car safety seats are designed for the typical child with minimal positioning or behavioral needs, but how do the nearly 20% of children with disabilities travel safely if a conventional car seat does not meet their needs? Child Passenger Safety Technicians are left with limited opportunities to build their skillset after tech class or the Safe Travel for All Children enrichment course, often with limited resources or mentoring opportunities. This session will serve as a technical update including tips, tricks, and resources to best meet the family’s needs.

Objectives:

1. Awareness of common medical diagnoses and their car seat challenges
2. Describe when/how various adaptive car seats can be used
3. Participate in real-life case studies to determine which car seat(s) can be used.